Method and apparatus for granting rights for content on a network service

ABSTRACT

Techniques for granting rights for content on a social network to multiple users include determining first data. It is also determined to associate a first user identifier and at least a second user identifier with the first data. It is further determined to grant a right for the first data to a first user identified by the first user identifier and at least a second user identified by the second user identifier.

BACKGROUND

Service providers and device manufacturers (e.g., wireless, cellular,etc.) are continually challenged to deliver value and convenience toconsumers by, for example, providing compelling network services. Apopular type of network service is a social network which allowsmultiple users to share content provided by one or more of the users.Often the shared content reflects on the behavior of persons other thanthe user who uploaded the content to the service. While a person whouploaded the content can often copy it, remove it from the service, orexercise other rights of ownership, other persons whose behavior isreflected may be unable to do so.

SOME EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

Therefore, there is a need for an approach for granting, to multipleusers, ownership rights for content on a network service, such as asocial network service.

According to one embodiment, a method comprises determining first data.The method further comprises determining to associate a first useridentifier and at least a second user identifier with the first data.The method further comprises determining to grant a right for the firstdata to a first user identified by the first user identifier and atleast a second user identified by the second user identifier.

According to another embodiment, a method comprises receiving a firstuser identifier associated with first data; and determining to presentthe first data in association with the first user identifier. The methodfurther comprises receiving data that indicates a different second useridentifier and exercise of a right for the first data. The methodfurther comprises determining whether the second user has the right forthe first data. The method further comprises determining to operate onthe first data based on the right, if the second user has the right forthe first data.

According to another embodiment, a method comprises facilitating accessto at least one interface configured to allow access to at least oneservice, the at least one service configured to perform all or part ofthe above methods.

According to another embodiment, an apparatus comprises at least oneprocessor, and at least one memory including computer program code, theat least one memory and the computer program code configured to, withthe at least one processor, cause, at least in part, the apparatus toperform all or part of the above methods.

According to another embodiment, a computer-readable storage mediumcarries one or more sequences of one or more instructions which, whenexecuted by one or more processors, cause, at least in part, anapparatus to perform all or part of the above methods.

According to another embodiment, an apparatus comprises means forperforming all or part of the above methods.

Still other aspects, features, and advantages of the invention arereadily apparent from the following detailed description, simply byillustrating a number of particular embodiments and implementations,including the best mode contemplated for carrying out the invention. Theinvention is also capable of other and different embodiments, and itsseveral details can be modified in various obvious respects, all withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, thedrawings and description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature,and not as restrictive.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The embodiments of the invention are illustrated by way of example, andnot by way of limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a system capable of granting ownership rights forcontent posted at a service, according to one embodiment;

FIG. 2A is a diagram of a data structure for tracking nearby servicesubscribers, according to one embodiment;

FIG. 2B is a diagram of a data structure for content posted by serviceusers, according to one embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a diagram of a message for exercising ownership rights inposted content, according to one embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a process on user equipment for grantingownership rights, according to one embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a process at a network service for grantingownership rights, according to one embodiment;

FIGS. 6A-6C are time sequence diagrams of messages to grant and exerciseownership rights in content posted at a service, according to variousembodiments;

FIGS. 7A-7D are diagrams of user interfaces utilized in the processes ofFIG. 4, according to various embodiments;

FIG. 8 is a diagram of hardware that can be used to implement anembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 9 is a diagram of a chip set that can be used to implement anembodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 10 is a diagram of a mobile terminal (e.g., handset) that can beused to implement an embodiment of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SOME EMBODIMENTS

Examples of a method, apparatus, and computer program are disclosed forgranting to multiple users rights (e.g., an ownership right, an accessright, a use right, or other rights) for content on a service. In thefollowing description, for the purposes of explanation, numerousspecific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of the embodiments of the invention. It is apparent,however, to one skilled in the art that the embodiments of the inventionmay be practiced without these specific details or with an equivalentarrangement. In other instances, well-known structures and devices areshown in block diagram form in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuringthe embodiments of the invention.

As used herein content refers to any data that can be generated,acquired or communicated over a network, including text, images,documents, spreadsheets, audio, video, application data, game data,maps, drawings, among others. Posting refers to any process for makingcontent available for viewing by others on user equipment or otherdevices in communication over a network. In some contexts, post orposting is used as a noun to refer to the content posted. A user refersto an entity (e.g., person or organization) who operates user equipmentin communication with a communications network. A subscriber refers to auser who has registered with a service available through the network. Acontact refers to a different user with whom the user communicates overthe network, such as another subscriber of the same service as indicatedin a contacts list associated with a subscriber in a subscriber profiledata structure.

Although various embodiments are described with respect to granting tomultiple users rights to delete content posted on a social network, itis contemplated that the approach described herein may be used withother ownership rights, such as copying, tagging, commenting,distributing and excluding others from using content on social networkservices or other services available through a communications network,such as an electronic mail service or a database service.

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a system 100 capable of granting ownership rightsfor content posted at a service, according to one embodiment. Clientprocesses 117 a through 117 m (collectively referenced hereinafter asclients 117) on corresponding user equipment (UE) 101 a through 101 m(collectively referenced hereinafter as user equipment, UE 101) ofcorresponding multiple users are in communication with service 110through communication network 105. Information about the subscribers ofservice 110 is stored in data store data structure 114, and includes anycontent posted by those subscribers in user posts data structure 118.Often the content in user posts 118 reflects on the behavior of persons(e.g., User A of UE 101 a) other than the subscriber (e.g., User M of UE101 m) who uploaded the content to the service 110. While User M whouploaded the content can often copy it, remove it from the service, orexercise other rights of ownership, User A whose behavior is reflectedmay be unable to do so. For example, an image posted by User M in userposts data structure 118, and available to at least some othersubscribers of service 110, may depict User M and User A drinking at abar. However, User A may know another subscriber, User X, of service 110who has access to the posted image and who is avoiding alcohol use withUser A's support. User A would like to remove the image from the userposts data structure 118. However, because User A did not post theimage, the service 110 gives User A no right to remove the image.

To address this problem, the system 100 of FIG. 1 introduces thecapability to grant, to multiple users, rights for content posted at aservice. Although various embodiments are discussed with respect toownership rights, it is contemplated that system 100 is applicable toany rights available with respect to content (e.g., an access right, ause right, etc.). Each of the clients 117 includes an owner rightsclient module 152 that determines multiple subscribers who are givenownership rights. The service 110 includes an owner rights servicemodule 150 that honors those extended ownership rights for subscriberswho did not post the content. The ownership rights include, copying thecontent to the subscriber's posts, excluding a particular subscriberfrom accessing or copying the content, removing the content from thesubscriber's posts, adding links or comments or tags of the subscriberto the post, removing links or comments or tags of the subscriber fromthe post, removing the content from the posts of one or more or allother users, removing links or comments or tags of others from the post,among other rights, alone or in some combination. Thus, the ownershipright includes a right to remove first data (content) from the service.

As shown in FIG. 1, the system 100 comprises user equipment (UE) 101having connectivity to service 110 via a communication network 105. Byway of example, the communication network 105 of system 100 includes oneor more networks such as a data network (not shown), a wireless network(not shown), a telephony network (not shown), or any combinationthereof. It is contemplated that the data network may be any local areanetwork (LAN), metropolitan area network (MAN), wide area network (WAN),a public data network (e.g., the Internet), short range wirelessnetwork, or any other suitable packet-switched network, such as acommercially owned, proprietary packet-switched network, e.g., aproprietary cable or fiber-optic network, and the like, or anycombination thereof. In addition, the wireless network may be, forexample, a cellular network and may employ various technologiesincluding enhanced data rates for global evolution (EDGE), generalpacket radio service (GPRS), global system for mobile communications(GSM), Internet protocol multimedia subsystem (IMS), universal mobiletelecommunications system (UMTS), etc., as well as any other suitablewireless medium, e.g., worldwide interoperability for microwave access(WiMAX), Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks, code division multipleaccess (CDMA), wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA), wirelessfidelity (WiFi), wireless LAN (WLAN), Bluetooth®, Internet Protocol (IP)data casting, satellite, mobile ad-hoc network (MANET), and the like, orany combination thereof.

The UE 101 is any type of mobile terminal, fixed terminal, or portableterminal including a mobile handset, station, unit, device, multimediacomputer, multimedia tablet, Internet node, communicator, desktopcomputer, laptop computer, notebook computer, netbook computer, tabletcomputer, personal communication system (PCS) device, personalnavigation device, personal digital assistants (PDAs), audio/videoplayer, digital camera/camcorder, positioning device, televisionreceiver, radio broadcast receiver, electronic book device, game device,or any combination thereof, including the accessories and peripherals ofthese devices, or any combination thereof. It is also contemplated thatthe UE 101 can support any type of interface to the user (such as“wearable” circuitry, etc.).

In some embodiments, one or more of the UE 101 include context engines103 that determine the current environment of the UE 101, such as adevice identifier, installed equipment, current time, currentconnectivity to network 105 including signal strength and noise levels,power levels, and processes currently executing. In some embodiments,the context engine 103 includes a local communications module 104, whichdetermines and communicates with other user equipment within localcommunication by virtue of sufficiently close spatial proximity. Forexample, as depicted in FIG. 1, mobile UE 101 a and mobile UE 101 m arein local communication through the local communications module 104, asindicated by the double-headed zig-zag arrow between them.

By way of example, the UE 101 and service 110 communicate with eachother and other components of the communication network 105 using wellknown, new or still developing protocols. In this context, a protocolincludes a set of rules defining how the network nodes within thecommunication network 105 interact with each other based on informationsent over the communication links. The protocols are effective atdifferent layers of operation within each node, from generating andreceiving physical signals of various types, to selecting a link fortransferring those signals, to the format of information indicated bythose signals, to identifying which software application executing on acomputer system sends or receives the information. The conceptuallydifferent layers of protocols for exchanging information over a networkare described in the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) Reference Model.

Communications between the network nodes are typically effected byexchanging discrete packets of data. Each packet typically comprises (1)header information associated with a particular protocol, and (2)payload information that follows the header information and containsinformation that may be processed independently of that particularprotocol. In some protocols, the packet includes (3) trailer informationfollowing the payload and indicating the end of the payload information.The header includes information such as the source of the packet, itsdestination, the length of the payload, and other properties used by theprotocol. Often, the data in the payload for the particular protocolincludes a header and payload for a different protocol associated with adifferent, higher layer of the OSI Reference Model. The header for aparticular protocol typically indicates a type for the next protocolcontained in its payload. The higher layer protocol is said to beencapsulated in the lower layer protocol. The headers included in apacket traversing multiple heterogeneous networks, such as the Internet,typically include a physical (layer 1) header, a data-link (layer 2)header, an internetwork (layer 3) header and a transport (layer 4)header, and various application headers (layer 5, layer 6 and layer 7)as defined by the OSI Reference Model.

Processes executing on various devices, often communicate using theclient-server model of network communications, widely known and used.According to the client-server model, a client process sends a messageincluding a request to a server process, and the server process respondsby providing a service. The server process may also return a messagewith a response to the client process. Often the client process andserver process execute on different computer devices, called hosts, andcommunicate via a network using one or more protocols for networkcommunications. The term “server” is conventionally used to refer to theprocess that provides the service, or the host on which the processoperates. Similarly, the term “client” is conventionally used to referto the process that makes the request, or the host on which the processoperates. As used herein, the terms “client” and “server” and “service”refer to the processes, rather than the hosts, unless otherwise clearfrom the context. In addition, the process performed by a server can bebroken up to run as multiple processes on multiple hosts (sometimescalled tiers) for reasons that include reliability, scalability, andredundancy, among others. A well known client process available on mostdevices (called nodes) connected to a communications network is a WorldWide Web client (called a “web browser,” or simply “browser”) thatinteracts through messages formatted according to the hypertext transferprotocol (HTTP) with any of a large number of servers called World WideWeb (WWW) servers that provide web pages. As depicted in FIG. 1, the UEs101 include browsers 107.

Although processes and data structures of system 100 are depicted asintegral blocks arranged on particular nodes connected to network 105for purposes of illustration, in other embodiments, one or moreprocesses or data structures or portions thereof are arranged in adifferent way or in one or more databases on the same or differentnodes, or one or more other processes or data structures are included,or the system is changed in some combination of ways. Thus, it iscontemplated that the functions of these components may be combined inone or more components or performed by other components of equivalentfunctionality. For example, in some embodiments, the service 110interacts with a user of UE 101 through a browser 107 and client 117 isomitted. In such embodiments, the owner rights client module 152 isembedded in a web page presented by browser 107, and thus inside browser107.

In some embodiments, ownership rights are granted to one or moresubscribers in local communication with the subscriber who posts contentto the service. FIG. 2A is a diagram of a local devices data structure200 for tracking nearby social network users, according to oneembodiment. In some embodiments, one or more fields of data structure200 are included in owner rights client module 152 or context engine 103or both. In some embodiments that do not grant ownership rights based onsuch local communications, local device data structure 200 is omitted.

Although data structures, messages and fields are depicted in FIG. 2A,and in subsequent diagrams in FIG. 2B and FIG. 3, as integral blocksarranged in a particular order for purposes of illustration, in otherembodiments, one or more messages or data structures or fields orportions thereof are arranged in a different order or in one or moredatabases on the same or different nodes, or one or more other fieldsare included, or the data structure or message is changed in somecombination of ways.

The local devices data structure 200 includes a device entry field 210for each device detected to be in local communications, e.g., directradio contact, or in mutual radio contact with a common wirelessfidelity (WiFi) access point or cellular base station, by the localcommunications module 104. Other fields 210, if any, are indicated byellipsis. Each device entry field 210 includes a device identifier (ID)field 212, and, for one or more services for which a user of the deviceis a subscriber, a service identifier (ID) field 214, a user identifierfield 216 and a contact flag field 218. Fields 214, 216 and 218 forother services are indicated by ellipsis.

The device ID field 212 holds data that uniquely indicates a differentmobile UE 101 that is in direct (e.g., near-field) communication withthe local UE 101 on which resides the data structure 200. For purposesof illustration, it is assumed that local devices data structure 200 ison local UE 101 m that is in local communication with different UE 101a. In such circumstances, device ID field 212 holds data that uniquelyidentifies different UE 101 a, such as a Media Access Control (MAC)number for the different UE 101 a, a Mobile Subscriber IntegratedServices Digital Network Number (MSISDN), a 64 bit International MobileSubscriber Identity (IMSI), among others, alone or in some combination.

The service ID field 214 holds data that uniquely indicates a service(e.g., service 110) to which a user of the different UE 101 a is asubscriber, among all other services available over the communicationsnetwork 105. For example, the service ID field 214 holds data thatindicates a universal resource identifier (URI) for the service 110.

The user ID field 216 holds data that indicates the subscriberidentifier for the user of the different UE 101 a indicated in field 212at the service indicated in field 214. For purposes of illustration, itis assumed that User A of UE 101 a has a user ID of “Alice123” atservice 110; therefore, user ID field 216 holds data that indicates“Alice123.”

The contact flag field 218 holds data that indicates whether the user IDindicated in field 216 is a contact of the user of the local UE 101 m atthe service indicated in field 214. For example, if User M of the localUE 101 m is a subscriber of service 110 and includes Alice123 among thecontacts in User M's profile at service 110, then contact ID flag field218 indicates that the other user is a contact, e.g., indicates thelogical value “TRUE.” However, if User M of the local UE 101 m is asubscriber of service 110 but does not include Alice123 among thecontacts in User M's profile at service 110, or if User M is not asubscriber to service 110, then contact ID flag field 218 indicates thatthe other user is a not a contact, e.g., indicates the logical value“FALSE.”

The device entry field 210 is an example means of achieving theadvantage of tracking contacts of a user who are in local communicationwith the user's UE 101. In some embodiments, one or more such contactsare given ownership rights automatically in content posted by the user,as described in more detail below. Granting ownership rights to suchcontacts is an example means of automatically identifying othersubscribers whose behavior may be reflected in content posted by theuser.

FIG. 2B is a diagram of a user posts data structure 250 for contentposted by service users, according to one embodiment. User posts datastructure 250 is a particular embodiment of user posts data structure118 depicted in FIG. 1. The user posts data structure 250 includes apost entry field 260 for each post provided by a user of the service.Other posts by the same or different user are indicated by ellipsis. Inthe illustrated embodiment, each post entry field 260 includes an itemidentifier (ID) field 262, a user identifier (ID) field, an owner'ssecret field 266, one or more owner rights user identifier (ID) fields268 and ellipsis, a posted content field 270, and a comments/tags field272.

The item ID field 262 holds data that uniquely indicates a particularpost among all other posts to the same service, e.g., service 110. Forexample, each new post is given a next number in a sequence of numbers.In some embodiments, the item ID of a deleted post is returned as thenext or other number of the sequence of numbers.

The user ID field 264 holds data that uniquely indicates a subscriber tothe service, e.g., to service 110, who provided the content for the postindicated in item ID field 262. For purpose of illustration, it isassumed that User M provided an image as content for item ID 1234567 andthat User M has a user ID at service 110 of “Myself789.” In thiscircumstance, field 262 indicates 1234567 and field 264 indicates“Myself789.”

The owner's secret field 266 holds data that is shared between theservice and the subscriber identified in field 264 and called theowner's secret. In some embodiments, the data is exchanged with thesubscriber identified in field 264 using encryption to maintain the dataas a secret during open communications; but, in other embodiments,encryption is not used even though the data is referred to as theowner's secret for convenience. In some embodiments, the owner's secretis used to allow a subscriber who bears the secret to exercise one ormore rights of an owner on the content of the post, as described in moredetail below. In some embodiments, the owner's secret field 266 includesdifferent secrets for different ownership rights, e.g., one secret valuefor copying rights and a different secret value for removal rights. Theowner's secret field is an example means of achieving the advantage ofgranting ownership rights to multiple users, because any subscriber whopresents the owner's secret is allowed to exercise the correspondingownership right. The subscriber identified in field 264 is enabled todistribute the owner's secret to other subscribers, as explained in moredetail below with reference to FIG. 4. In some embodiments, an owner'ssecret is not used and field 266 is omitted.

The owner rights user ID field 268 holds data that indicates asubscriber who is different from the one indicated in field 264, and whohas been granted ownership rights. In some embodiments the subscriberindicated in field 268 is granted all rights of ownership. In someembodiments, only some rights of ownership are granted; and, in some ofthese embodiments, the ownership rights granted are indicated in thefield 268 along with the user ID of the subscriber. For example, if UserM wishes to grant ownership rights to User A, whose user ID at service110 is “Alice123,” then data indicating “Alice123” is included in field268. Other subscribers who are granted ownership rights in the contentof the current post are indicated in subsequent fields 268 indicated byellipsis. A bona fide message from User A to operate on the content ofthe current post is granted based on User A's user ID being present inone of the fields 268, as explained in more detail below with referenceto FIG. 5. The owner rights user ID field 268 is an example means ofachieving the advantage of granting ownership rights to multiple users,because any subscriber whose user ID appears in one of the fields 268 isallowed to exercise the corresponding ownership right. In someembodiments that include fields 268, secret field 266 is omitted. Insome embodiments that include owner's secret field 266, owner rightsuser ID fields 268 are omitted.

The posted content field 270 holds data that indicates the content thathas been posted to the service for presentation in association with thesubscriber indicated in field 264, e.g., an image of User A and User Mat a bar which is to be presented by the service 110 in association with“Myself789.”

The comments/tags field 272 holds data that indicates the comments ortags or links, or some combination, if any, associated with the contentby the subscriber indicated in field 264 and any other subscriber withthe right to insert comments or tags or links. Each comment or tag orlink is associated with the subscriber who provided it.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of a message 300 for exercising ownership rights inposted content, according to one embodiment. The exercise owner rightsmessage 300 includes a user credentials field 302, an item ID field 304,an owner's secret field 306 and an operation field 308.

The user credentials field 302 holds data that authenticates asubscriber to the service 110 who wishes to exercise an ownership rightgranted by another subscriber. For example, the user credentials field302 holds data that indicates a token issued by an authenticationservice. In some embodiments, the user credentials field 302 includes auser identifier (ID) field 303 that holds data that indicates the userID of a subscriber at the service 110. In some embodiments, the usercredentials field 302 includes the user identifier (ID) field 303 and apassword field used to authenticate the subscriber at the service. Forexample, when User A wants to exercise ownership rights over the post byUser M, message 300 is sent by User A. In this example, the usercredentials field 302 holds data that indicates the user ID “Alice123”of User A in field 303 and a password used to authenticate User A atservice 110.

The item ID field 304 holds data that uniquely identifies an individualpost on the service over which an ownership right is to be exercised.For example, item ID field 304 holds data that indicates the item ID1234567 for the post of the image of User A and user M at a bar.

The owner's secret field 306 holds data that indicates the value in theowner's secret field 266 for the associated post. In embodiments thatomit field 266, field 306 is also omitted.

The operation field 308 holds data that indicates an operation on thecontent that is allowed by the ownership rights granted to the use whosends the message 300. For example, in various embodiments, theoperation indicates copying the content to the sending subscriber'spage, adding a link to the post to the sending subscriber's page, addinga tag or link indicating another subscriber into field 272, deleting acomment or tag or link by another from field 272 of the post, deletingthe post content field 270, or deleting the post entry field 260, amongothers.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a process 400 on user equipment for grantingownership rights, according to one embodiment. In one embodiment, theclient 117 and owner rights client module 152 performs the process 400and are implemented in, for instance, a chip set including a processorand a memory as shown in FIG. 9 or mobile terminal as depicted in FIG.10. Although steps are shown in FIG. 4, and subsequent flow chart FIG.5, as integral blocks in a particular order for purposes ofillustration, in other embodiments one or more steps, or portionsthereof, are performed in a different order, or overlapping in time, inseries or in parallel, or are omitted, or one or more additional stepsare included, or the process is changed in some combination of ways.

In step 401, the client 117 connects to the service 110 and downloadsthe user profile for the user of the UE 101 on which the client 117executes, called the local user hereinafter. The user profile includesuser IDs for any subscribers of service 110 who are contacts of thelocal user, and any groups of contacts that have previously been definedby the local user, such as a group of family members, a group of workcolleagues, a group of former classmates, etc. who are subscribers tothe service 110. In some embodiments, step 401 includes providingcredentials of the local user for authentication by the service, e.g.,receiving a manually input password in response to a prompt and sendingthe local user's user ID and password to the service 110. For purpose ofillustration, it is assumed that process 400 executes on UE 101 m ofUser M, who is the local user; and, User M's profile and contacts andgroups, if any, are received during step 401, including User M's user ID“Myself789.” During step 401 an application user interface (UI) ispresented to the local user by the client 117 of service 110, asdescribed with reference to FIG. 7A.

FIGS. 7A-7D are diagrams of user interfaces utilized in the processes ofFIG. 4, according to various embodiments. FIG. 7A is a diagram thatillustrates an example screen 701 presented at UE 101. The screen 701includes a device toolbar 710 portion of a display, which includes zeroor more active areas. As is well known, an active area is a portion of adisplay to which a user can point using a pointing device (such as acursor and cursor movement device, or a touch screen) to cause an actionto be initiated by the device that includes the display. Well knownforms of active areas are stand alone buttons, radio buttons, checklists, pull down menus, scrolling lists, and text boxes, among others.Although areas, active areas, windows and tool bars are depicted in FIG.7A through FIG. 7D as integral blocks in a particular arrangement onparticular screens for purposes of illustration, in other embodiments,one or more screens, windows or active areas, or portions thereof, arearranged in a different order, are of different types, or one or moreare omitted, or additional areas are included or the user interfaces arechanged in some combination of ways.

For purposes of illustration, it is assumed that the device toolbar 710includes active areas 711, 713, 715 a and 715 b. The active area 711 isactivated by a user to display applications installed on the UE 101which can be launched to begin executing, such as an email applicationor a video player or the client 117 of service 110. The active area 713is activated by a user to display current context of the UE 101, such ascurrent date and time and location and signal strength. In someembodiments, the active area 713 is a thumbnail that depicts the currenttime, or signal strength for a mobile terminal, or both, that expandswhen activated. The active area 715 a is activated by a user to displaytools built-in to the UE, such as camera, alarm clock, automatic dialer,telephone contact list, GPS, and web browser. The active area 715 b isactivated by a user to display contents stored on the UE, such aspictures, videos, music, voice memos, etc.

The screen 701 also includes an application user interface (UI) area 720in which the data displayed is controlled by a client 117 or a browser107 in response to service 110 after user credentials have been enteredin response to a prompt for such credentials, like a username andpassword. According to some embodiments, the application UI area 720includes an ENTER CONTENT button 721, a GRANT OWNERSHIP RIGHTS button722 and a CLOSE button 724. If the user activates the CLOSE button 724,the application UI area 720 is closed.

If the user activates the ENTER CONTENT button 721, the user is promptedto enter or select content to be posted to the service. Any method maybe used to generate the content, such as presenting a UI that includes abrowse button for searching for extant content on the UE 101, or a textbox to enter text, or a camera to take an image or video, etc. If theuser activates the GRANT OWNERSHIP RIGHTS button 722, the user ispresented with or prompted to enter or select one or more contacts ofthe user at the service 110 to whom one or more ownership rights are tobe granted.

Returning to FIG. 4, in step 403, selected service users (subscribers)of service 110 who are to be associated with and given ownership rightsin the next content posted at the service 110 by the local user aredetermined. Any method may be used to determine the selected subscribersof service 110. In some embodiments, the selected subscribers aredetermined based on input from the local user identifying the selectedsubscribers one by one from a list of the local user's contacts. In someembodiments, the selected subscribers are determined based on input fromthe local user identifying one of the predefined groups of contacts,such as colleagues or family as described in more detail below withreference to FIG. 7B. In some embodiments, the predefined groups aredynamically determined, e.g., the subscriber contacts who are in thespatial vicinity or in local communication. Thus step 403 includesdetermining a first user identifier and a second user identifierassociated with first data (content), wherein the first user identifierand the second user identifier identify users of a service availableover a communications network. Furthermore, in some embodiments,determining the first user identifier and the second user identifierfurther comprises determining that the first user identifier and thesecond user identifier are members of a predefined group of useridentifiers on the service. As indicated above, in some embodiments,determining the first user identifier and the second user identifierfurther comprises determining that a first device associated with thefirst user identifier and a second device associated with the seconduser identifier are within a predetermined distance of each other.

FIG. 7B is a diagram that illustrates an example screen 702 presented atUE 101 to present the user contacts after activating the GRANT OWNERSHIPRIGHTS button 722. Screen 702 includes the device toolbar 710 portion,application UI 720 and buttons 721, 722, 724, as described above. Inscreen 702, the application UI area 720 includes a contact groupslisting area 726 with a scrollbar to move into view contact groups thatare too numerous to display in area 726 at one time. The contact groupslisting area 726 presents all the contact groups of the user at service110, including references to groups with dynamically determinedmemberships.

In some embodiments, the selected subscribers are determined based oninput from the local user identifying the selected subscribers from alist of the local user's contacts who are in a spatial vicinity of thelocal user, as determined by the current position of the local user andthe contacts; and, in some embodiments all the local user's contacts inthe spatial vicinity are automatically selected. In some embodiments,the selected subscribers are determined based on input from the localuser identifying the selected subscribers from a list of the localuser's contacts who are in a similar context as the local user, asdetermined by the context engines of the local user and the contacts asreported to the service; and, in some embodiments all the local user'scontacts in the similar context are automatically selected.

In an illustrated embodiment, the selected subscribers are determinedbased on input from the local user identifying the selected subscribersfrom a list of the local user's contacts whose UE 101 are in localcommunication with the local user's UE 101 m, e.g., as determined by thelocal communications module 104; and, in some embodiments all the localuser's contacts in local communication are automatically selected.Referring again to FIG. 4, in such embodiments, step 403 includes one ormore of steps 411 through 419. Including one or more of the local user'scontacts whose UE are in local communication is an example means ofachieving the advantage of automatically selecting contacts who arelikely to be included in the subject matter of the local user's statusupdate posts (SUP), whether text, image, audio, video, or other content,and who therefore deserve some ownership rights.

In step 411, devices in direct or other local communication aredetermined, e.g., using local communications modules 104 on those UE101. For purposes of illustration it is assumed that UE 101 a inclusivethrough UE 101 m exclusive are in local communication with UE 101 m ofUser M and their device IDs are determined during step 411. However, thedevice IDs of these UE 101 are not the same as the user IDs at theservice 110 for the users of these devices. Therefore, the next stepsdetermine the user IDs of the users of these UE 101 in direct or otherlocal communication.

In step 413, the user ID of the local user for service 110 is broadcastto the other UE 101 in direct or other local communication, e.g.,through the local communications module 104 on UE 101 m. For example,the URI of service 110 and the user ID “Myself789” are periodicallybroadcast to the UE 101 in direct or other local communication, e.g.,once every five minutes. Similarly, each of these UE 101 also broadcastthe services and service user IDs for the services to which their userssubscribe. During step 415, the user IDs at the services for users ofthe UE in direct or other local communication are received. For example,data is received at owner rights client 152 on UE 101 m that indicates“Alice123” at service 110 for the user of UE 101 a. Similarly, such datais received from each of the other UE 101 in direct or other localcommunication, such as “Bob456” at service 110 for the user of UE 101 b.User IDs at other services, different from service 110, if any, are alsoreceived; and, in some embodiments ignored if User M is not a subscriberto such different services. For purposes of illustration, it is assumedthe users of the UE 101 are all subscribers to service 110 and all theiruser IDs are received during step 415. In some embodiments, step 415includes storing the information in local devices data structure 200 ina different device entry record 210 for each device in direct or otherlocal communication.

In step 417, the local user's contacts are determined among all the userIDs received. The user IDs received during step 415 are compared to thelist of the local user's contacts received during step 401. For example,User C of UE 101 c has user ID “Charles007” as learned during step 415;but while “Alice123” and “Bob456” are in the contacts list for“Myself789”, “Charles007” is not. Therefore, during step 417 it isdetermined that User M's service 110 contacts in direct or other localcommunication include “Alice123” and “Bob456” but not “Charles007.”

In step 419, the selected subscribers for the service 110 are determinedfrom the contacts in local communication. In some embodiments, step 419includes all contacts in local communication as the selected subscribersto be granted ownership rights. In some embodiments, during step 419 allcontacts in local communication are presented to the local user who isprompted to indicate which to include as the selected subscribers to begranted ownership rights. Thus in the illustrated embodiment,determining the first user identifier and the second user identifierfurther comprises determining that a first device associated with thefirst user identifier and a second device associated with the seconduser identifier are in direct radio communication. For example, uponselecting one of the contact groups listed in contact groups listingarea 726, a group membership user interface (UI) is presented to theuser as shown in FIG. 7C.

FIG. 7C is a diagram that illustrates an example screen 703 presented atUE 101 to present the user contacts after selecting a group in thecontact groups listing area 726. Screen 703 includes the device toolbar710 portion, application UI 720, buttons 721, 722, 724, and contactgroups listing area 726, as described above. In screen 703, the groupselected by the user is highlighted as highlighted group 729 in thecontact groups listing area 726. The members of the highlighted groupare presented in a group membership area 730. The group membership area730 presents all the user IDs of the subscribers who are contacts of thelocal user at service 110 and members of the group, e.g., in user IDarea 732 a through user ID area 732 e, among others, collectivelyreferenced hereinafter as user ID areas 732. In some embodiments withlarger memberships than can be presented in the area 730, a scrollbar isincluded in area 730 to allow a user to move into area 730 other user IDareas 732 that are out of area 730. A checkbox 734 is adjacent to eachuser ID area 732 to indicate whether the corresponding user ID is to beincluded among the selected subscribers to be granted ownership rights.In some embodiments, when area 730 is first presented, each checkbox 734is checked; and, the user activates a check box to de-select asubscriber with the user ID presented in the corresponding user ID area732. In some embodiments additional active areas are included, such as abutton to check all or a button to toggle the check boxes or a button toaccept the selections and close area 730, or some combination.

Returning to FIG. 4, in step 421, content to be sent to the service 110for posting is determined. For example, in response to the local useractivating the ENTER CONTENT button 721, the local user takes a picturewith a camera option on a mobile terminal, such as a cell phone. In someembodiments, step 421 includes one or more messages exchanged betweenthe local user and one or more other selected subscribers describing thecontent and service to which it will be posted. For example, User Mshares content (e.g., an image of User A and User M at a bar) with UserA and User B, e.g., in a separate channel from service 110, such as inone or more email or short message service (SMS) messages, and suggeststhat the content be posted to service 110 on User M's page associatedwith user ID “Myself789.” Based on their responses, the local userdetermines to send the content to be posted at the service 110. Thusstep 421 includes determining to send the first data (content) inassociation with the first user identifier (Myself789) to the servicefor presentation of the first data in association with the first useridentifier.

In step 423, it is determined to grant ownership rights to the selectedsubscribers. Any method may be used to do this. In some embodiments, thegranting of ownership rights is based on a shared secret, e.g., a valuein the owner's secret field 266. In some embodiments, the granting ofownership rights is based on including a list of user IDs forsubscribers with ownership rights in association with the posted contenton the service, e.g., in owner rights user ID fields 268. Bothembodiments are illustrated as steps 431 though 439 included in step423. Thus step 423 includes determining to grant an ownership right forthe first data at the service to both users identified by the first useridentifier and the second user identifier.

Step 431 represents a decision point about which method is used forgranting rights. If granting ownership rights is not based on a sharedsecret value, but on the list of selected subscribers in fields 268,then step 433 is performed. Otherwise steps 435, 437 and 439 areperformed. In some embodiments using the shared secret, steps 431 and433 are omitted. In some embodiments using the list of selectedsubscribers, steps 431, 435, 437 and 439 are omitted.

If granting of ownership rights is based on a list of selectedsubscribers, then in step 433, the content to post on the service issent to the service in association with the user IDs of the selectedsubscribers. For example, during step 433, the image of User M and UserA at the bar is sent to service 110 in a message that includes the userIDs “Alice123” and “Bob456” as well as the User ID of the subscribermaking the post, “Myself789.” Thus, in step 433, determining to grant anownership right for the first data further comprises determining to senddata that indicates an ownership right for the first data and the seconduser identifier to the service. In some embodiments, step 433 includessending notifications to the selected subscribers. In some embodimentsthe notifications are sent by the service 110. In some embodiments,determining to send the first data (content) to the service during step433, further comprises determining to send credentials that authenticatethe first user identifier at the service.

If granting ownership rights is based on a shared secret value, then instep 435 the content to post on the service is sent to the service withonly the user ID of the subscriber making the post “Myself789.” In someembodiments, determining to send the first data (content) to the serviceduring step 435, further comprises determining to send credentials thatauthenticate the first user identifier at the service. In step 437 avalue of the owner's secret that indicates the one or more ownershiprights is received from the service. Thus step 437 includes receivingdata (owner's secret) that indicates an ownership right for the firstdata from the service. In step 439, the secret is distributed to theselected subscribers, e.g., to “Alice123” at UE 101 a and to “Bob456” atUE 101 b. Thus steps 439 includes determining to send data (owner'ssecret) that indicates the ownership right for the first data to adevice associated with the second user identifier.

The next steps 441, 443 and 445 of process 400 are directed to receivingand exercising ownership rights in content posted by a different user,e.g., User M receiving ownership rights in content posted at service 110by “Alice123.”

In step 441, it is determined whether the local user has receivedownership rights for a different post by another subscriber. In someembodiments, this is a notification message that includes the serviceID, the item ID and the shared secret sent by the other user who postedthe content, e.g., in an SMS message received by User M from User A. Insome embodiments, this is a notification message that includes just theservice ID and the item ID (the shared secret is not used) sent by theother user who posted the content, e.g., in an SMS message received byUser M from User A. In some embodiments, the notification is presentedin a user interface as described below with reference to FIG. 7D. Thus,step 441 includes receiving data that indicates an ownership right insecond data (different post) presented at the service in associationwith a third user identifier (other user). In some embodiments, thethird user who made the other post is the same as the second user whoreceives ownership rights for the first post.

If no notification is received, then, in step 451, it is determinedwhether there is further content to post by the local user. If so,control passes back to step 403 to determine the selected subscribersfor ownership rights in the next posting, as described above. If thereis not another posting at the current time, then it is determined if endconditions are satisfied, e.g., the client 117 or connection to service110 is closed. If so, the process ends, otherwise control passes back tostep 441 to determine if ownership rights are received in yet anotherposting by another subscriber, as described above.

In some embodiments, the notification determined to be received duringstep 441 is presented as a user interface as shown in FIG. 7D. FIG. 7Dis a diagram that illustrates an example screen 704 presented at UE 101to present notification of ownership rights granted or exercised or bothfor a posting by another subscriber. Screen 704 includes the devicetoolbar 710 portion, application UI 720, and buttons 721, 722, asdescribed above. In screen 704, the post user interface (UI) area 740 ispresented. The post UI area 740 includes an OK button 742, a CLOSEbutton 744, a content area 750, an ownership operations area 760 and anotification area 770. Upon activation of the CLOSE button 744 the postUI area 740 is closed without exercising any ownership rights. Uponactivation of the OK button 742 one or more selected ownershipoperations on the content of the post are executed, and the post UI area740 remains open.

The content area 750 presents the content that has been posted or isabout to be posted by another subscriber, such as the image of User Mand User A at the bar.

The ownership operations area 760 includes one or more buttons 761 a,761 b, 761 c, 761 d, 761 d (collectively referenced hereinafter asownership operation buttons 761) that are activated to select one ormore ownership operations. For example, in some embodiments, button 761a is activated to vote for another subscriber to post the content inarea 750 that is not yet posted and button 761 b is activated to voteagainst. These buttons are deactivated, e.g., by graying out, if thecontent has already been posted. In some embodiments, button 761 c isactivated to copy the content to the service area of the local user atservice 110 (e.g., home page at a social network service). In someembodiments, button 761 d is activated to remove any tags or links tothe local user from the content posted at the service area of the othersubscribers. In some embodiments, button 761 e is activated to removeall instances of the content on the service areas of all members of thegroup of selected subscribers. Operations that do not apply, or thatinvolve rights not granted, are indicated by omitting or deactivatingthe corresponding buttons.

The notification area 770 presents data that indicates actions taken byother subscribers with ownership rights. For example, notification area750 presents data that indicates “Alice123” has granted ownership rightsto the local user; or that “Bob456” has removed the content in area 750from his service area at service 110.

If it is determined in step 441 that the local user has receivedownership rights for a different post by another subscriber, e.g., ifpost UI area 740 is presented, then control passes to step 443. In step443, it is determined whether to exercise the ownership right, e.g., toremove content posted by another. For example, it is determined in step443 if one of the ownership operation buttons 761 and OK button 742 havebeen activated. If so, then in step 445 a message is sent to the serviceto exercise the ownership right over the other post. Thus, step 445includes determining to send data that indicates exercise of theownership right in the second data (different post) to the service. Forexample, exercise owner rights message 300 is sent from owner rightsclient module 152 on UE 101 m to owner rights service module 150 inservice 110. The message 300 indicates the user credentials in field302, the item ID indicated in field 304 and the operation in field 308.In embodiments that rely on a shared secret, the value of the secret isincluded in field 306. In response to the message, the service 110authenticates the message based on the user credentials in field 302(and the secret in field 306, if present); and, if authenticated,operates on the content having item ID indicated in field 304 asindicated by data in the operation field 308, as described in moredetail below with reference to FIG. 5.

Control passes back to step 443 from step 445 to perform any furtheroperations allowed by the ownership rights, if desired. If no more suchrights are to be exercised, e.g., if the CLOSE button 744 is activated,then control passes to step 451 and following, as described above.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a process 500 at a service for grantingownership rights, according to one embodiment. In one embodiment, theservice 110 and owner rights service module 150 performs the process 500and are implemented in, for instance, a chip set including a processorand a memory as shown in FIG. 9, or computer system as depicted in FIG.8.

In step 501, the subscriber profile including contacts of a first userare sent in response to a request from a device of that user, e.g., inresponse to a request message from client 117 m on UE 101 m. In someembodiments, step 501 includes causing a prompt to presented for userinput of credentials, such as user ID and password, and authenticatingthe first user based on the response to the prompt. Step 501 representsa service side response to step 401 on the client side.

The remainder of the processing depends on whether ownership rights aregranted based on a shared secret or on a list of user IDs forsubscribers with ownership rights. Step 503 represents a decision pointabout which method is used for granting rights. If granting ownershiprights is not based on a shared secret value, but on the list ofselected subscribers in fields 268, then steps 511 to 533 are performed.Otherwise steps 541 to 563 are performed. In some embodiments using theshared secret, steps 503 to 533 are omitted. In some embodiments usingthe list of selected subscribers, steps 503 and 541 to 563 are omitted.

If granting of ownership rights is based on a list of selectedsubscribers, then, in step 511, content to be posted is received fromthe device of the first user of the service (e.g., the firstsubscriber). For example, in one embodiment, User M is the firstsubscriber and the content received during step 511 is the image of UserM and User A at the bar. Thus step 511 includes receiving a first useridentifier (first subscriber) associated with first data (content). Alsoreceived during step 511 is a list of the user IDs of the selectedsubscribers who have ownership rights in the content. For example, dataindicating “Alice123” and “Bob456” is also received in association withthe image of User M and User A at the bar. In some embodiments, step 511includes assigning the content an item ID value for field 262 andrecording the information in post entry record 260 of the user post datastructure 250. The user ID of the sending subscriber is stored in field264 and the other user IDs are stored in corresponding fields 268. Thusstep 511 includes receiving data that indicates a different second useridentifier and exercise of an ownership right for the first data.Receiving the first user identifier associated with the first data(content) further comprises receiving the second user identifierassociated with the first data (content).

In step 513, the content is posted at the service. In some embodiments,the content is only posted at the service area of the first subscriberwho sent the content. Thus, step 513 includes determining to present thefirst data (content) in association with the first user identifier(first subscriber). In some embodiments, the content is posted at theservice areas of the first subscriber and one or more or all of theother selected subscribers with ownership rights. Thus step 513 includesdetermining to present the first data (content) in association with thesecond user identifier if the second user has the ownership right forthe first data by virtue of being listed.

In step 515 a link or tag indicating other selected subscribers or firstsubscriber with ownership rights are included in association with eachsubscriber's service area that posts the content. In some embodiments,step 515 is omitted.

In step 517, notification is sent to the selected subscribers. Thenotification indicates that the content has been posted, where thecontent has been posted (e.g., which service areas), and any links ortags that are associated at each post. For example, data for post UIarea 740 is sent with the notification in area 770, in some embodiments.In some embodiments, the notification in area 770 is sent outside theservice 110, e.g., in an SMS or email message.

In step 521, it is determined if a message is received from a differentsecond subscriber to exercise an ownership right over the postedcontent, e.g., it is determined whether an exercise owner rights message300 is received that indicates the item ID in field 304 of the contentposted by the first subscriber. If not, control passes to step 531 todetermine if another post is being received. If so, control passes backto step 511, described above. If not, then, in step 533, it is determineif end conditions are satisfied, e.g., whether the service is shuttingdown. If end conditions are satisfied, then the process 500 ends;otherwise, control passes back to step 521 to determine if a message toexercise an ownership right is received.

If a message is received to exercise an ownership right, then in step523, the sender of the message is authenticated, e.g., based on the usercredentials in field 302 of the message 300. In step 525, it isdetermined if the sender passes authentication. If not, control skips tostep 531 and following as described above. Thus step 523 includesdetermining whether the second user has the ownership right for thefirst data by authenticating the second user identifier.

If the sender passes authentication, then in step 527 the ownershipoperation is performed on the post. For example, the content is copied,a tag or link or comment is added or removed, or the content is removedfrom one or more or all service areas (in some embodiments of the lattercase, the corresponding post entry field 260 is deleted from the datastructure 250). In step 529, a notification is sent to the othersubscribers that the ownership right has been exercised by thesubscriber who sent the message. For example, data for post UI area 740is sent with the notification in area 770, in some embodiments. In someembodiments, the notification in area 770 is sent outside the service110, e.g., in an SMS or email message. Control then passes to step 531and following, described above.

If granting of ownership rights is based on a shared secret, then, instep 541, content to be posted is received from the device of the firstuser of the service (e.g., the first subscriber) as in step 511. Forexample, in one embodiment, User M is the first subscriber and thecontent received during step 541 is the image of User M and User A atthe bar. Unlike step 511, no data indicating a list of selectedsubscribers is received. In some embodiments, step 541 includesassigning the content an item ID value for field 262 and generating asecret value for field 266 and recording the information in post entryrecord 260 of the user post data structure 250. The user ID of thesending subscriber is stored in field 264. In some embodiments thesecret for field 266 is provided by the first subscriber.

In step 543 it is determined to send a secret to the first subscriber.For example, the generated secret stored in field 266 of a post entrygenerated for the post is retrieved and sent to the first subscriber.Thus, step 543 includes determining to send second data (owner's secret)that indicates the ownership right to a device associated with the firstuser identifier (first subscriber). In some embodiments, the secret isprovided by the first subscriber; and step 543 is omitted.

In step 545, the content is posted at the service. In some embodiments,the content is only posted at the service area of the first subscriberwho sent the content. The content is not posted at the service areas ofany of the other selected subscribers with ownership rights, because atstep 545 such other subscribers are not yet specified to the service andare thus unknown by process 500. Such other subscribers can only postthe content by presenting the secret value for authentication in step553 and exercising the ownership right to copy the content in step 557,described below.

Steps 551, 553, 555, 557, 559, 561 and 563 parallel steps 521, 523, 525,527, 529, 531 and 533 described above, respectively. A difference isthat authentication during step 553 is also based, at least in part, ona secret value. Another difference, in some embodiments, is that anauthenticated subscriber is added as an owner of the content during step557, e.g., a field 268 indicating the user ID of the authenticatedsubscriber is added to the post entry field 260.

In step 551, it is determined if a message is received from a differentsecond subscriber to exercise an ownership right over the postedcontent, e.g., it is determined whether an exercise owner rights message300 is received that indicates the item ID in field 304 of the contentposted by the first subscriber and the owner's secret. Thus, step 551includes receiving data that indicates a different second useridentifier and the owner's secret which is an indication of exercise ofan ownership right for the first data. If not, control passes to step561 to determine if another post is being received. If another post isbeing received, control passes back to step 541, described above. Ifnot, then, in step 563, it is determined if end conditions aresatisfied, e.g., whether the service is shutting down. If end conditionsare satisfied, then the process 500 ends; otherwise, control passes backto step 551 to determine if a message to exercise an ownership right isreceived.

If a message is received to exercise an ownership right, then in step553, the sender of the message is authenticated, e.g., based on the usercredentials in field 302 and secret value in field 306 of the message300. Thus step 553 includes determining whether the second user has theownership right for the first data. That is, determining whether thesecond user has the ownership right for the first data (content) furthercomprises determining whether the data that indicates the second useridentifier and exercise of the ownership right further indicates thesecond data (owner's secret). In step 555, it is determined if thesender passes authentication. If not, control skips to step 561 andfollowing as described above.

If the sender and secret passes authentication, then in step 557 theownership operation is performed on the post. Thus step 557 includesdetermining to operate on the first data (content) based on theownership right if the second user (sending subscriber) has theownership right for the first data by virtue of the owner's secret. Insome embodiments, step 557 includes adding the authenticated sender asan owner of the content, e.g., by adding the user ID of theauthenticated sender to a field 268 of the post entry record 260. Forexample, the content is copied, a tag or comment or link is added orremoved, or the content is removed from one or more or all service areas(in some embodiments of the latter case, the corresponding post entryfield 260 is deleted from the data structure 250). When the content iscopied, step 557 amounts to determining to present the first data(content) in association with the second user identifier if the seconduser has the ownership right for the first data by virtue of bearing theowner's secret. In step 559, a notification is sent to the othersubscribers that the ownership right has been exercised by thesubscriber who sent the message. For example, data for post UI area 740is sent with the notification in area 770, in some embodiments. In someembodiments, the notification in area 770 is sent outside the service110, e.g., in an SMS or email message. Control then passes to step 561and following, described above.

FIGS. 6A-6C are time sequence diagrams of messages to grant and exerciseownership rights in content posted at a service, according to variousembodiments. In time sequence diagrams, time increases downward (not toscale), an individual network process is represented by verticallyelongated boxes labeled by rectangles at the top. A message sent fromone process to another is indicated by a horizontal arrow pointing fromthe sending process to the receiving process. A step at a single processis indicated by a segmented arrow looping back on the process at avertical position indicative of the relative time when the step occurs.The processes represented in FIG. 6A-6C include clients 117 a through117 m (represented by the first and last clients of the set of M users),including corresponding owner rights client modules 152, and service110, including owner rights service module 150 and user specific serviceareas 601 a through 601 m (represented by the first and last user homepages of a social network service).

FIG. 6A depicts time sequence 600 for ownership rights based on a listof selected subscribers, according to an embodiment. In one or moremessages 611 between owner rights client modules 152 in clients 117 aand 117 m, during step 421, User M and User A agree to post content onboth their walls, e.g., an image of User A and User M at a bar. In someembodiments, User A and User M are together and know each other's userIDs at service 110. In some embodiments, the user IDs of all users inlocal communication are determined and the post is shared with all; butUser M only grants ownership rights to User A during step 423 byde-selecting the check boxes of the other users in dynamic group area730 for contacts in local communication.

In one or more messages 613, during step 433, the content is sent to theowner rights service module 150 in service 110 along with the user IDsof both subscribers to service 110, e.g., from owner rights clientmodule 152 in client 117 m with data indicating “Myself789” and“Alice123.” The content and subscriber IDs are received at module 150during step 511.

During step 513 and step 515, the content is posted to the User A homepage with links to User M in one or more messages 615 a; the samecontent is posted to the User M home page with links to User A in one ormore messages 615 b. During step 517, notification of the posting with alink to “Myself789” is sent to the user rights client module 152 inclient 117 a in one or more messages 621 a; and presented to User A,e.g., in post UI area 740. This amounts to receiving notice of ownershiprights by User A from User M during step 441. Similarly, during step517, notification of the posting with a link to “Alice123” is sent tothe user rights client module 152 in client 117 m in one or moremessages 621 b; and presented to User M, e.g., in post UI area 740.

At some later time, User A feels regret about the posting, and duringstep 443 determines to exercise the ownership right to remove the linkto her page from the posting on the home page of User M, e.g., byactivating a corresponding button 761 and the OK button 742 in post UIarea 740. One or more delete post messages 623 is sent. For example, anexercise owner rights message 300 is sent with data in field 308indicating to delete her own post and links from other posts. In message623, the user credentials field 302 indicates “Alice123”, the item IDfield indicates the item ID 1234567 for the image of User A and User Min the bar, and the secret field 306 is omitted. This message isreceived at the owner rights service module 150 during step 521.

In process 625, e.g., during step 523, user A is authenticated. If userA is authenticated, the posting is removed from User A's home page inone or more messages 627 a; and the link to “Alice123” is removed fromfield 272 of the post entry, e.g., during step 527.

In one or more messages 629 sent during step 529, notification of theremoval by User A is sent to the owner rights client module 152 inclient 117 m of User M for display in area 770 of post UI area 740.

If User M decides to leave the content as a post on the User M homepage, no further action is taken. However, if, based on the notificationreceived, User M determines to exercise the ownership right to deletethe posting from his page, e.g., by activating the corresponding button761 on post UI area 740 during step 443, then, during step 445 one ormore messages 631 are sent to delete the posting. For example anexercise owner rights message 300 is sent that indicates “Myself789” infield 302 along with any token or password used as authenticationcredentials, indicates the item ID 1234567 of the image of User M andUser A at the bar in field 304 and indicates delete post in field 308.In this embodiment, the secret field 306 is not used; and is omitted.

In process 635, e.g., during step 523, user M is authenticated. If userM is authenticated, the posting is removed from User M's home page inone or more messages 637.

In one or more messages 639 sent during step 529, notification of theremoval by User M is sent to the owner rights client module 152 inclient 117 a of User A for display in area 770 of post UI area 740.

In another example embodiment, User A feels regret about the posting,and during step 443 instead of determining to exercise the ownershipright to remove the link to her from the posting on the home page ofUser M, User A determines to remove the content from all service areas,e.g., by activating a different button 761 and the OK button 742 in postUI area 740.

In process 625, e.g., during step 523, user A is authenticated. In thisembodiment, if user A is authenticated, the posting is removed not onlyfrom User A's home page in one or more messages 627 a; but is alsoremoved from User M's home page in one or more messages 637. In some ofthese embodiments, the post entry field 260 that includes the image ofUser M and User A at the bar is deleted from the user posts datastructure 250.

In one or more messages 629 sent during step 529, notification of theremoval by User A is sent to the owner rights client module 152 inclient 117 m of User M for display in area 770 of post UI area 740.

FIG. 6B depicts time sequence 640 for ownership rights based on a secretvalue, according to an embodiment. In one or more messages 641 duringstep 435, the owner rights client module 152 in client 117 m of User Msends to the owner rights service module 150 content to be posted onUser M's home page.

During step 541 the content is received. During step 543 a secret isgenerated and sent to the owner rights client module 152 in one or moresecret messages 645. During step 545 the content is posted to the homepage of User M in one or more messages 643 and a post entry field 260 isadded to the user posts data structure 250, with an item ID value1234567 in field 262, data indicating “Myself789” in field 264, thesecret in field 266 and the content in field 270. No fields 268 areincluded.

During step 437, the secret is received; and during step 439 the secretis distributed to selected subscribers in one or more messages 647 a toowner rights client module 152 on client 117 a and one or more messages647 b to owner rights client module 152 on client 117 b, among othersindicated by ellipsis, collectively referenced hereinafter as secretmessages 647. The secret messages 647 indicate the item ID value 1234567and the secret value. In some embodiments, the secret messages 647 alsoindicate the sender, “Myself789.”

It is assumed for purposes of illustration that the selected subscribersinclude all those in local communication with UE 101 m of User M; but,only User A and User B choose to exercise their ownership rights to addor delete the content. The other selected subscribers do nothing.

When the secret messages 647 are received at each owner rights clientmodule 152, it is determined during step 441 that ownership rights havebeen received for content posted by “Myself789,” e.g., post UI area 740is presented with the image of User A and User M at the bar, and withnotification area 770 indicating ownership rights to copy or delete thecontent.

User A decides to add the content to her home page and indicates so byactivating the corresponding button 761 and OK button 742 of the post UIarea 740. In step 443, it is determined that the ownership right to copythe post has been chosen, and during step 445 one or more messages 651are sent to the owner rights service module 150. For example, message300 includes a user credentials field 302 that indicates “Alice123” andany password or token, the item ID field indicates the item ID value1234567 for the image of User A and User M in the bar, the secret field306 indicates the distributed secret, and the operation field 308indicates copy the content to a post on the sender's home page. Thismessage is received at the owner rights service module 150 during step551.

In process 653, e.g., during step 553, user A is authenticated based atleast in part on the secret value. If user A is authenticated, thenduring step 557 the posting is added to User A's home page in one ormore messages 655. The post entry field 360 is modified with a link toUser A in field 272 and a field 268 added that holds data that indicatesthe user ID “Alice123.” In one or more messages sent during step 559,notification of the copying by “Alice123” is sent to the owner rightsclient module 152 in client 117 m of User M for display in area 770 ofpost UI area 740.

User B decides to remove the content pages of the service; and indicatesso by activating the corresponding button 761 and OK button 742 of thepost UI area 740. In step 443, it is determined that the ownership rightto remove the content has been chosen, and during step 445 one or moremessages 661 are sent to the owner rights service module 150. Forexample, message 300 includes a user credentials field 302 thatindicates “Bob456” and any password or token used for authentication,the item ID field indicates the item ID value 1234567 for the image ofUser A and User M in the bar, the secret field 306 indicates thedistributed secret, and the operation field 308 indicates removal of thecontent from all posts. This message is received at the owner rightsservice module 150 during step 551.

In process 663, e.g., during step 553, user B is authenticated based atleast in part on the secret value. If user B is authenticated, thenduring step 557 the content is removed from the posts on User M's homepage and User A's home page in one or more messages 665 a and one ormore messages 665 b, respectively. In some embodiments, the post entryfield 260 is deleted from the user posts data structure 250. In one ormore messages 657 a and one or more messages 657 b sent during step 559,notification of the removal of the content by “Bob456” is sent to theowner rights client module 152 in client 117 a of User A and in client117 m of User M, respectively, for display in area 770 of post UI area740 on each.

FIG. 6C depicts time sequence 660 for ownership rights based on a secretvalue, according to another embodiment that involves communicationsamong selected subscribers before initial posting. During step 421, UserM sends content for a suggested posting from the owner rights clientmodule 152 on client 117 m to all the selected subscribers in one ormore post question messages 651 a to owner rights client module 152 inclient 117 a, one or more post question messages 651 b to owner rightsclient module 152 in client 117 b, and one or more post questionmessages indicated by ellipsis to other selected subscribers(collectively referenced hereinafter as post question messages 651). Ateach client module 152 the suggested post is presented, e.g., in a postUI area 740.

In response, also during step 421, zero or more vote messages arereceived, e.g., in response to user activation of a corresponding button761 and the OK button 742. For example, owner rights client module 152on client 117 m receives one or more vote messages 653 a from the ownerrights client module 152 on client 117 a, one or more vote messages 653ba from the owner rights client module 152 on client 117 b, one or morevote messages from the owner rights client module 152 on other clientsindicated by ellipsis (collectively referenced hereinafter as votemessages 653).

Based on the response, still during step 421, it is determined whetherto post the content. For example, in some embodiments, the content isnot posted until all the votes are in and a unanimous vote to post isreceived. In some embodiments, a majority of all possible votes isenough. In some embodiments, a majority of responding votes is enough.In some embodiments a majority of a quorum of votes is enough. If it isdetermined to post the content, the posting is done. The remainingmessages 541 through 657 b and processes 653 and 663 are as describedabove for FIG. 6B.

The processes described herein for granting ownership rights for contentposted at a service may be advantageously implemented via software,hardware, firmware or a combination of software and/or firmware and/orhardware. For example, the processes described herein, may beadvantageously implemented via processor(s), Digital Signal Processing(DSP) chip, an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), FieldProgrammable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), etc. Such exemplary hardware forperforming the described functions is detailed below.

FIG. 8 illustrates a computer system 800 upon which an embodiment of theinvention may be implemented. Although computer system 800 is depictedwith respect to a particular device or equipment, it is contemplatedthat other devices or equipment (e.g., network elements, servers, etc.)within FIG. 8 can deploy the illustrated hardware and components ofsystem 800. Computer system 800 is programmed (e.g., via computerprogram code or instructions) to grant ownership rights for contentposted at a service as described herein and includes a communicationmechanism such as a bus 810 for passing information between otherinternal and external components of the computer system 800. Information(also called data) is represented as a physical expression of ameasurable phenomenon, typically electric voltages, but including, inother embodiments, such phenomena as magnetic, electromagnetic,pressure, chemical, biological, molecular, atomic, sub-atomic andquantum interactions. For example, north and south magnetic fields, or azero and non-zero electric voltage, represent two states (0, 1) of abinary digit (bit). Other phenomena can represent digits of a higherbase. A superposition of multiple simultaneous quantum states beforemeasurement represents a quantum bit (qubit). A sequence of one or moredigits constitutes digital data that is used to represent a number orcode for a character. In some embodiments, information called analogdata is represented by a near continuum of measurable values within aparticular range. Computer system 800, or a portion thereof, constitutesa means for performing one or more steps of granting ownership rightsfor content posted at a service.

A bus 810 includes one or more parallel conductors of information sothat information is transferred quickly among devices coupled to the bus810. One or more processors 802 for processing information are coupledwith the bus 810.

A processor (or multiple processors) 802 performs a set of operations oninformation as specified by computer program code related to grantingownership rights for content posted at a service. The computer programcode is a set of instructions or statements providing instructions forthe operation of the processor and/or the computer system to performspecified functions. The code, for example, may be written in a computerprogramming language that is compiled into a native instruction set ofthe processor. The code may also be written directly using the nativeinstruction set (e.g., machine language). The set of operations includebringing information in from the bus 810 and placing information on thebus 810. The set of operations also typically include comparing two ormore units of information, shifting positions of units of information,and combining two or more units of information, such as by addition ormultiplication or logical operations like OR, exclusive OR (XOR), andAND. Each operation of the set of operations that can be performed bythe processor is represented to the processor by information calledinstructions, such as an operation code of one or more digits. Asequence of operations to be executed by the processor 802, such as asequence of operation codes, constitute processor instructions, alsocalled computer system instructions or, simply, computer instructions.Processors may be implemented as mechanical, electrical, magnetic,optical, chemical or quantum components, among others, alone or incombination.

Computer system 800 also includes a memory 804 coupled to bus 810. Thememory 804, such as a random access memory (RAM) or any other dynamicstorage device, stores information including processor instructions forgranting ownership rights for content posted at a service. Dynamicmemory allows information stored therein to be changed by the computersystem 800. RAM allows a unit of information stored at a location calleda memory address to be stored and retrieved independently of informationat neighboring addresses. The memory 804 is also used by the processor802 to store temporary values during execution of processorinstructions. The computer system 800 also includes a read only memory(ROM) 806 or any other static storage device coupled to the bus 810 forstoring static information, including instructions, that is not changedby the computer system 800. Some memory is composed of volatile storagethat loses the information stored thereon when power is lost. Alsocoupled to bus 810 is a non-volatile (persistent) storage device 808,such as a magnetic disk, optical disk or flash card, for storinginformation, including instructions, that persists even when thecomputer system 800 is turned off or otherwise loses power.

Information, including instructions for granting ownership rights forcontent posted at a service, is provided to the bus 810 for use by theprocessor from an external input device 812, such as a keyboardcontaining alphanumeric keys operated by a human user, or a sensor. Asensor detects conditions in its vicinity and transforms thosedetections into physical expression compatible with the measurablephenomenon used to represent information in computer system 800. Otherexternal devices coupled to bus 810, used primarily for interacting withhumans, include a display device 814, such as a cathode ray tube (CRT),a liquid crystal display (LCD), a light emitting diode (LED) display, anorganic LED (OLED) display, a plasma screen, or a printer for presentingtext or images, and a pointing device 816, such as a mouse, a trackball,cursor direction keys, or a motion sensor, for controlling a position ofa small cursor image presented on the display 814 and issuing commandsassociated with graphical elements presented on the display 814. In someembodiments, for example, in embodiments in which the computer system800 performs all functions automatically without human input, one ormore of external input device 812, display device 814 and pointingdevice 816 is omitted.

In the illustrated embodiment, special purpose hardware, such as anapplication specific integrated circuit (ASIC) 820, is coupled to bus810. The special purpose hardware is configured to perform operationsnot performed by processor 802 quickly enough for special purposes.Examples of ASICs include graphics accelerator cards for generatingimages for display 814, cryptographic boards for encrypting anddecrypting messages sent over a network, speech recognition, andinterfaces to special external devices, such as robotic arms and medicalscanning equipment that repeatedly perform some complex sequence ofoperations that are more efficiently implemented in hardware.

Computer system 800 also includes one or more instances of acommunications interface 870 coupled to bus 810. Communication interface870 provides a one-way or two-way communication coupling to a variety ofexternal devices that operate with their own processors, such asprinters, scanners and external disks. In general the coupling is with anetwork link 878 that is connected to a local network 880 to which avariety of external devices with their own processors are connected. Forexample, communication interface 870 may be a parallel port or a serialport or a universal serial bus (USB) port on a personal computer. Insome embodiments, communications interface 870 is an integrated servicesdigital network (ISDN) card or a digital subscriber line (DSL) card or atelephone modem that provides an information communication connection toa corresponding type of telephone line. In some embodiments, acommunication interface 870 is a cable modem that converts signals onbus 810 into signals for a communication connection over a coaxial cableor into optical signals for a communication connection over a fiberoptic cable. As another example, communications interface 870 may be alocal area network (LAN) card to provide a data communication connectionto a compatible LAN, such as Ethernet. Wireless links may also beimplemented. For wireless links, the communications interface 870 sendsor receives or both sends and receives electrical, acoustic orelectromagnetic signals, including infrared and optical signals, thatcarry information streams, such as digital data. For example, inwireless handheld devices, such as mobile telephones like cell phones,the communications interface 870 includes a radio band electromagnetictransmitter and receiver called a radio transceiver. In certainembodiments, the communications interface 870 enables connection to thecommunication network 105 for granting ownership rights for contentposted at a service from the UE 101.

The term “computer-readable medium” as used herein refers to any mediumthat participates in providing information to processor 802, includinginstructions for execution. Such a medium may take many forms,including, but not limited to computer-readable storage medium (e.g.,non-volatile media, volatile media), and transmission media.Non-transitory media, such as non-volatile media, include, for example,optical or magnetic disks, such as storage device 808. Volatile mediainclude, for example, dynamic memory 804. Transmission media include,for example, twisted pair cables, coaxial cables, copper wire, fiberoptic cables, and carrier waves that travel through space without wiresor cables, such as acoustic waves and electromagnetic waves, includingradio, optical and infrared waves. Signals include man-made transientvariations in amplitude, frequency, phase, polarization or otherphysical properties transmitted through the transmission media. Commonforms of computer-readable media include, for example, a floppy disk, aflexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, any other magnetic medium, aCD-ROM, CDRW, DVD, any other optical medium, punch cards, paper tape,optical mark sheets, any other physical medium with patterns of holes orother optically recognizable indicia, a RAM, a PROM, an EPROM, aFLASH-EPROM, an EEPROM, a flash memory, any other memory chip orcartridge, a carrier wave, or any other medium from which a computer canread. The term computer-readable storage medium is used herein to referto any computer-readable medium except transmission media.

Logic encoded in one or more tangible media includes one or both ofprocessor instructions on a computer-readable storage media and specialpurpose hardware, such as ASIC 820.

Network link 878 typically provides information communication usingtransmission media through one or more networks to other devices thatuse or process the information. For example, network link 878 mayprovide a connection through local network 880 to a host computer 882 orto equipment 884 operated by an Internet Service Provider (ISP). ISPequipment 884 in turn provides data communication services through thepublic, world-wide packet-switching communication network of networksnow commonly referred to as the Internet 890.

A computer called a server host 892 connected to the Internet hosts aprocess that provides a service in response to information received overthe Internet. For example, server host 892 hosts a process that providesinformation representing video data for presentation at display 814. Itis contemplated that the components of system 800 can be deployed invarious configurations within other computer systems, e.g., host 882 andserver 892.

At least some embodiments of the invention are related to the use ofcomputer system 800 for implementing some or all of the techniquesdescribed herein. According to one embodiment of the invention, thosetechniques are performed by computer system 800 in response to processor802 executing one or more sequences of one or more processorinstructions contained in memory 804. Such instructions, also calledcomputer instructions, software and program code, may be read intomemory 804 from another computer-readable medium such as storage device808 or network link 878. Execution of the sequences of instructionscontained in memory 804 causes processor 802 to perform one or more ofthe method steps described herein. In alternative embodiments, hardware,such as ASIC 820, may be used in place of or in combination withsoftware to implement the invention. Thus, embodiments of the inventionare not limited to any specific combination of hardware and software,unless otherwise explicitly stated herein.

The signals transmitted over network link 878 and other networks throughcommunications interface 870, carry information to and from computersystem 800. Computer system 800 can send and receive information,including program code, through the networks 880, 890 among others,through network link 878 and communications interface 870. In an exampleusing the Internet 890, a server host 892 transmits program code for aparticular application, requested by a message sent from computer 800,through Internet 890, ISP equipment 884, local network 880 andcommunications interface 870. The received code may be executed byprocessor 802 as it is received, or may be stored in memory 804 or instorage device 808 or any other non-volatile storage for laterexecution, or both. In this manner, computer system 800 may obtainapplication program code in the form of signals on a carrier wave.

Various forms of computer readable media may be involved in carrying oneor more sequence of instructions or data or both to processor 802 forexecution. For example, instructions and data may initially be carriedon a magnetic disk of a remote computer such as host 882. The remotecomputer loads the instructions and data into its dynamic memory andsends the instructions and data over a telephone line using a modem. Amodem local to the computer system 800 receives the instructions anddata on a telephone line and uses an infra-red transmitter to convertthe instructions and data to a signal on an infra-red carrier waveserving as the network link 878. An infrared detector serving ascommunications interface 870 receives the instructions and data carriedin the infrared signal and places information representing theinstructions and data onto bus 810. Bus 810 carries the information tomemory 804 from which processor 802 retrieves and executes theinstructions using some of the data sent with the instructions. Theinstructions and data received in memory 804 may optionally be stored onstorage device 808, either before or after execution by the processor802.

FIG. 9 illustrates a chip set or chip 900 upon which an embodiment ofthe invention may be implemented. Chip set 900 is programmed to grantownership rights for content posted at a service as described herein andincludes, for instance, the processor and memory components describedwith respect to FIG. 8 incorporated in one or more physical packages(e.g., chips). By way of example, a physical package includes anarrangement of one or more materials, components, and/or wires on astructural assembly (e.g., a baseboard) to provide one or morecharacteristics such as physical strength, conservation of size, and/orlimitation of electrical interaction. It is contemplated that in certainembodiments the chip set 900 can be implemented in a single chip. It isfurther contemplated that in certain embodiments the chip set or chip900 can be implemented as a single “system on a chip.” It is furthercontemplated that in certain embodiments a separate ASIC would not beused, for example, and that all relevant functions as disclosed hereinwould be performed by a processor or processors. Chip set or chip 900,or a portion thereof, constitutes a means for performing one or moresteps of providing user interface navigation information associated withthe availability of functions. Chip set or chip 900, or a portionthereof, constitutes a means for performing one or more steps ofgranting ownership rights for content posted at a service.

In one embodiment, the chip set or chip 900 includes a communicationmechanism such as a bus 901 for passing information among the componentsof the chip set 900. A processor 903 has connectivity to the bus 901 toexecute instructions and process information stored in, for example, amemory 905. The processor 903 may include one or more processing coreswith each core configured to perform independently. A multi-coreprocessor enables multiprocessing within a single physical package.Examples of a multi-core processor include two, four, eight, or greaternumbers of processing cores. Alternatively or in addition, the processor903 may include one or more microprocessors configured in tandem via thebus 901 to enable independent execution of instructions, pipelining, andmultithreading. The processor 903 may also be accompanied with one ormore specialized components to perform certain processing functions andtasks such as one or more digital signal processors (DSP) 907, or one ormore application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC) 909. A DSP 907typically is configured to process real-world signals (e.g., sound) inreal time independently of the processor 903. Similarly, an ASIC 909 canbe configured to performed specialized functions not easily performed bya more general purpose processor. Other specialized components to aid inperforming the inventive functions described herein may include one ormore field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) (not shown), one or morecontrollers (not shown), or one or more other special-purpose computerchips.

In one embodiment, the chip set or chip 900 includes merely one or moreprocessors and some software and/or firmware supporting and/or relatingto and/or for the one or more processors.

The processor 903 and accompanying components have connectivity to thememory 905 via the bus 901. The memory 905 includes both dynamic memory(e.g., RAM, magnetic disk, writable optical disk, etc.) and staticmemory (e.g., ROM, CD-ROM, etc.) for storing executable instructionsthat when executed perform the inventive steps described herein to grantownership rights for content posted at a service. The memory 905 alsostores the data associated with or generated by the execution of theinventive steps.

FIG. 10 is a diagram of exemplary components of a mobile terminal (e.g.,handset) for communications, which is capable of operating in the systemof FIG. 1, according to one embodiment. In some embodiments, mobileterminal 1001, or a portion thereof, constitutes a means for performingone or more steps of granting ownership rights for content posted at aservice. Generally, a radio receiver is often defined in terms offront-end and back-end characteristics. The front-end of the receiverencompasses all of the Radio Frequency (RF) circuitry whereas theback-end encompasses all of the base-band processing circuitry. As usedin this application, the term “circuitry” refers to both: (1)hardware-only implementations (such as implementations in only analogand/or digital circuitry), and (2) to combinations of circuitry andsoftware (and/or firmware) (such as, if applicable to the particularcontext, to a combination of processor(s), including digital signalprocessor(s), software, and memory(ies) that work together to cause anapparatus, such as a mobile phone or server, to perform variousfunctions). This definition of “circuitry” applies to all uses of thisterm in this application, including in any claims. As a further example,as used in this application and if applicable to the particular context,the term “circuitry” would also cover an implementation of merely aprocessor (or multiple processors) and its (or their) accompanyingsoftware/or firmware. The term “circuitry” would also cover ifapplicable to the particular context, for example, a baseband integratedcircuit or applications processor integrated circuit in a mobile phoneor a similar integrated circuit in a cellular network device or othernetwork devices.

Pertinent internal components of the telephone include a Main ControlUnit (MCU) 1003, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP) 1005, and areceiver/transmitter unit including a microphone gain control unit and aspeaker gain control unit. A main display unit 1007 provides a displayto the user in support of various applications and mobile terminalfunctions that perform or support the steps of granting ownership rightsfor content posted at a service. The display 1007 includes displaycircuitry configured to display at least a portion of a user interfaceof the mobile terminal (e.g., mobile telephone). Additionally, thedisplay 1007 and display circuitry are configured to facilitate usercontrol of at least some functions of the mobile terminal. An audiofunction circuitry 1009 includes a microphone 1011 and microphoneamplifier that amplifies the speech signal output from the microphone1011. The amplified speech signal output from the microphone 1011 is fedto a coder/decoder (CODEC) 1013.

A radio section 1015 amplifies power and converts frequency in order tocommunicate with a base station, which is included in a mobilecommunication system, via antenna 1017. The power amplifier (PA) 1019and the transmitter/modulation circuitry are operationally responsive tothe MCU 1003, with an output from the PA 1019 coupled to the duplexer1021 or circulator or antenna switch, as known in the art. The PA 1019also couples to a battery interface and power control unit 1020.

In use, a user of mobile terminal 1001 speaks into the microphone 1011and his or her voice along with any detected background noise isconverted into an analog voltage. The analog voltage is then convertedinto a digital signal through the Analog to Digital Converter (ADC)1023. The control unit 1003 routes the digital signal into the DSP 1005for processing therein, such as speech encoding, channel encoding,encrypting, and interleaving. In one embodiment, the processed voicesignals are encoded, by units not separately shown, using a cellulartransmission protocol such as enhanced data rates for global evolution(EDGE), general packet radio service (GPRS), global system for mobilecommunications (GSM), Internet protocol multimedia subsystem (IMS),universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS), etc., as well as anyother suitable wireless medium, e.g., microwave access (WiMAX), LongTerm Evolution (LTE) networks, code division multiple access (CDMA),wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA), wireless fidelity(WiFi), satellite, and the like, or any combination thereof.

The encoded signals are then routed to an equalizer 1025 forcompensation of any frequency-dependent impairments that occur duringtransmission though the air such as phase and amplitude distortion.After equalizing the bit stream, the modulator 1027 combines the signalwith a RF signal generated in the RF interface 1029. The modulator 1027generates a sine wave by way of frequency or phase modulation. In orderto prepare the signal for transmission, an up-converter 1031 combinesthe sine wave output from the modulator 1027 with another sine wavegenerated by a synthesizer 1033 to achieve the desired frequency oftransmission. The signal is then sent through a PA 1019 to increase thesignal to an appropriate power level. In practical systems, the PA 1019acts as a variable gain amplifier whose gain is controlled by the DSP1005 from information received from a network base station. The signalis then filtered within the duplexer 1021 and optionally sent to anantenna coupler 1035 to match impedances to provide maximum powertransfer. Finally, the signal is transmitted via antenna 1017 to a localbase station. An automatic gain control (AGC) can be supplied to controlthe gain of the final stages of the receiver. The signals may beforwarded from there to a remote telephone which may be another cellulartelephone, any other mobile phone or a land-line connected to a PublicSwitched Telephone Network (PSTN), or other telephony networks.

Voice signals transmitted to the mobile terminal 1001 are received viaantenna 1017 and immediately amplified by a low noise amplifier (LNA)1037. A down-converter 1039 lowers the carrier frequency while thedemodulator 1041 strips away the RF leaving only a digital bit stream.The signal then goes through the equalizer 1025 and is processed by theDSP 1005. A Digital to Analog Converter (DAC) 1043 converts the signaland the resulting output is transmitted to the user through the speaker1045, all under control of a Main Control Unit (MCU) 1003 which can beimplemented as a Central Processing Unit (CPU) (not shown).

The MCU 1003 receives various signals including input signals from thekeyboard 1047. The keyboard 1047 and/or the MCU 1003 in combination withother user input components (e.g., the microphone 1011) comprise a userinterface circuitry for managing user input. The MCU 1003 runs a userinterface software to facilitate user control of at least some functionsof the mobile terminal 1001 to grant ownership rights for content postedat a service. The MCU 1003 also delivers a display command and a switchcommand to the display 1007 and to the speech output switchingcontroller, respectively. Further, the MCU 1003 exchanges informationwith the DSP 1005 and can access an optionally incorporated SIM card1049 and a memory 1051. In addition, the MCU 1003 executes variouscontrol functions required of the terminal. The DSP 1005 may, dependingupon the implementation, perform any of a variety of conventionaldigital processing functions on the voice signals. Additionally, DSP1005 determines the background noise level of the local environment fromthe signals detected by microphone 1011 and sets the gain of microphone1011 to a level selected to compensate for the natural tendency of theuser of the mobile terminal 1001.

The CODEC 1013 includes the ADC 1023 and DAC 1043. The memory 1051stores various data including call incoming tone data and is capable ofstoring other data including music data received via, e.g., the globalInternet. The software module could reside in RAM memory, flash memory,registers, or any other form of writable storage medium known in theart. The memory device 1051 may be, but not limited to, a single memory,CD, DVD, ROM, RAM, EEPROM, optical storage, magnetic disk storage, flashmemory storage, or any other non-volatile storage medium capable ofstoring digital data.

An optionally incorporated SIM card 1049 carries, for instance,important information, such as the cellular phone number, the carriersupplying service, subscription details, and security information. TheSIM card 1049 serves primarily to identify the mobile terminal 1001 on aradio network. The card 1049 also contains a memory for storing apersonal telephone number registry, text messages, and user specificmobile terminal settings.

While the invention has been described in connection with a number ofembodiments and implementations, the invention is not so limited butcovers various obvious modifications and equivalent arrangements, whichfall within the purview of the appended claims. Although features of theinvention are expressed in certain combinations among the claims, it iscontemplated that these features can be arranged in any combination andorder.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: determining, by anapparatus, first data originating from a first user, a first useridentifier, or a combination thereof at a network service; determining,by the apparatus, one or more second user identifiers associated withthe first user identifier with respect to the first data based, at leastin part, on at least one real-world physical spatial vicinity between afirst device associated with the first user identifier and one or moresecond devices associated with the one or more second user identifiers;associating, by the apparatus, at least one of the one or more seconduser identifiers with the first data; causing, at least in part, atransmission of a secret to at least one device of the one or moredevices associated with the at least one second user identifiers;granting, by the apparatus based, at least in part, on the secretincluded in a vote, an ownership right for the first data to at leastone second user identified by the at least one second user identifier,wherein the ownership right includes a right to cast the vote thatcontrols posting of the first data into one or more profile pages of thefirst user in the network service; and presenting the one or moreprofile pages with controlled posting of the first data to one or moredevices in the network service.
 2. A method of claim 1, furthercomprising: determining that the first data captures the at least onesecond user at the at least one real-world physical spatial vicinity,wherein the ownership right includes an absolute right to remove thefirst data from a presentation within a profile of the first user, thefirst user identifier, or a combination thereof within the service.
 3. Amethod of claim 1, further comprising: determining the one or moresecond devices that are in a local radio communication range of thefirst device as within the at least one real-world physical spatialvicinity of the first device, wherein determining to associate the atleast one second user identifier with the first data is further based,at least in part, on determining that the first user identifier and theat least one second user identifier are members of a predefined group ofuser identifiers associated with the service.
 4. A method of claim 1,wherein the ownership right includes a right to remove the first datafrom one or more profiles of the first user, the first user identifier,or a combination thereof within one or more other services, and theright to remove is exercised by transmitting a remove request includingthe secret to the service.
 5. A method of claim 1, wherein determiningto grant the ownership right for the first data further comprisesdetermining to send data that indicates the ownership right for thefirst data and the at least one second user identifier to the servicebased, at least in part, on the determination to associate the at leastone second user identifier with the first data.
 6. A method of claim 1,wherein determining to grant the ownership right for the first datafurther comprises: receiving data that indicates the ownership right forthe first data from the service; and determining to send data thatindicates the ownership right for the first data to at least one deviceassociated with the at least one second user identifier.
 7. A method ofclaim 5, wherein determining to send data that indicates the ownershipright for the first data and the at least one second user identifier tothe service further comprises determining to send credentials thatauthenticate the first user identifier at the service.
 8. A method ofclaim 1, further comprising receiving data that indicates an ownershipright in second data at the service in association with a third useridentifier.
 9. A method of claim 8, further comprising determining tosend data that indicates exercise of the ownership right in the seconddata to the service.
 10. A method of claim 1, wherein the one or moreprofile pages of the first user are associated with one or more socialnetwork services.
 11. A method of claim 10, further comprising:determining to post the first data into the one or more profiles of thefirst user based on all the votes are received and a unanimous result topost, a majority of the votes to post, a majority of responding votes topost, a majority of a quorum of the votes to post.
 12. A method of claim10, wherein the right to vote for or against the first user to post isexercised after the post.
 13. A method of claim 1, further comprisingwhen the second user has the ownership right for the first data, thendetermining to present the first data in association with the seconduser identifier.
 14. An apparatus comprising: at least one processor;and at least one memory including computer program code for one or moreprograms, the at least one memory and the computer program codeconfigured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus toperform at least the following, determine first data originating from afirst user, a first user identifier, or a combination thereof at anetwork service; determine one or more second user identifiersassociated with the first user identifier with respect to the first databased, at least in part, on at least one real-world physical spatialvicinity between a first device associated with the first useridentifier and one or more second devices associated with the one ormore second user identifiers; determine to associate at least one of theone or more second user identifiers with the first data; cause, at leastin part, a transmission of a secret to at least one device of the one ormore devices associated with the at least one second user identifiers;determine to grant, based, at least in part, on the secret included in avote, an ownership right for the first data to at least one second useridentified by the at least one second user identifier, wherein theownership right includes a right to cast the vote that controls postingof the first data into one or more profile pages of the first user inthe network service; and present the one or more profile pages withcontrolled posting of the first data to one or more devices in thenetwork service, wherein the apparatus is associated with the first useridentifier.
 15. An apparatus of claim 14, wherein the ownership rightincludes an absolute right to remove the first data from a presentationwithin a profile of the first user identifier within the service.
 16. Anapparatus of claim 14, wherein the apparatus is a mobile phone furthercomprising: user interface circuitry and user interface softwareconfigured to facilitate user control of at least some functions of themobile phone through use of a display and configured to respond to userinput; and a display and display circuitry configured to display atleast a portion of a user interface of the mobile phone, the display anddisplay circuitry configured to facilitate user control of at least somefunctions of the mobile phone.
 17. A non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium carrying one or more sequences of one or moreinstructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause anapparatus to at least perform the following steps: determining firstdata originating from a first user, a first user identifier, or acombination thereof at a network service; determining one or more seconduser identifiers associated with the first user identifier with respectto the first data based, at least in part, on at least one spatialvicinity between a first device associated with the first useridentifier and one or more second devices associated with the one ormore second user identifiers; associating at least one of the one ormore second user identifiers with the first data; causing, at least inpart, a transmission of a secret to at least one device of the one ormore devices associated with the at least one second user identifiers;granting, based, at least in part, on the secret included in a vote, anownership right for the first data to at least one second useridentified by the at least one second user identifier, wherein theownership right includes a right to cast the vote that controls postingof the first data into one or more profile pages of the first user inthe network service; and presenting the one or more profile pages withcontrolled posting of the first data to one or more devices in thenetwork service.
 18. A non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumof claim 17, wherein the ownership right includes an absolute right toremove the first data from a presentation within a profile of the firstuser identifier within the service.
 19. A non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein determining toassociate the at least one second user identifier with the first data isfurther based, at least in part, on determining that the first useridentifier and the at least one second user identifier are members of apredefined group of user identifiers associated with the service.